I remember that general area before it became a strip mall, when the Fresh Pond Drive-In was there, and afterwards, when the Drive-in Theatre closed and the present Fresh Pond Cinema went up. Movies I’ve seen there more recently (back in the 1990’s and 1980’s) were Titantic, Tomorrow Never Dies, Wizard of Oz, and An Officer and a Gentleman.

One thing I’ve recently noticed, however, when I’ve driven past Fresh Pond Cinema is the fact that the theatre hasn’t seemed as crowded, even on a Saturday evening, as it used to be. Wonder what gives.

Without a doubt my favorite memory of this theater – from its single screen days I think – was the ladies room. To this day I’ve never seen its match. Each stall had its own vanity with a sink. Sweet! A super bathroom and a huge screen – you can’t beat that!

I went there too many times in the mid-1990s, and it was easily the worst place to see a movie. The clientele was young and rowdy, the theaters + lobby were dingy, and at least one screen was criminally small.

The Entertainment Cinemas logo has now permanently replaced Lowes on the top of the parking lot sign. However, on the front on the cinema itself all they’ve done is take off the “LOEWS” … it still says “THEATRES” in the Loews font.

It was already closed down when Cambridge Seven Architects used it as a prototype to display their new design elements to the executives. It was a one-time deal, not an ongoing program. And not used as a prototype while opened. (grey paint replaced white, grey formica and fabric covered wall panels over old white formica and alpro, and black ceilings, with hanging fixtures, to make the theatre darker. Carpets went from red to blue, and concessions got back-lit back bar graphics. After the executives looked at the makeover, the Cambridge Seven went ahead and did over the theatre in Columbia Maryland, Chestnut Hill, Arlington Texas, Parmatown Mall, and probably a few others, to one degree or another. They also begain to use Cambridge Seven Design when building new theatres. I believe this was around 1986.

A banner has been placed over the sign, where the “Loews” used to be now it somewhat unintelligibly says “Entertainment Cinemas.” Other than that everything looks the same. The Loews spotlights are still up there.

Today’s Cambridge Chronicle says that the theatre will reopen tomorrow as an Entertainment Cinema.
[quote]The lineup will remain first-run movies, but the new operator vows patrons a better experience than under Loews.

“Itâ€™s just in rough shape,” said Bill Hanney, owner of Entertainment Cinemas. “It just needs an updating.”

“Itâ€™s been drab. The outside needs a facelift,” said Hanney, who did the original overhaul of the 1950 building back in 1989.
…
Having an operator with headquarters in Massachusetts will mean better customer service, Hanney said.

“Weâ€™re a local company and weâ€™re more hands-on,” he said.

The Fresh Pond cinema is slated to reopen tomorrow. The renovations will be done while keeping most of the screens open, Hanney said. He said the resulting look will be similar to his companyâ€™s recently renovated South Dennis theater. [/quote]

I went to the theater as a kid (most likely early 70’s) and I clearly remember it being a wonderfully large single screen cinema with a large curved screen and a balcony.

It was very strange when they changed it to a twin, it was split right down the middle by a new wall, and the screens in both theaters still pointed to the middle, there were no changes in the seating layout either, all the seats still pointed to the center of the old layout, not the centers of the new screens

If you phone the theatre today at (617) 661-2900 , you will hear a recording announcing that the theatre is “temporarily closed due to a change of ownership.” The recording says it will soon reopen as the “all new Entertainment Cinemas Fresh Pond, with new lobbies, all digital sound, a cafe seating area, and the return of our two-story waterfall.” It does not give a date for the reopening.

Bill Hanney, principal with Entertainment Cinemas in South Easton, says his company has a deal to operate the cinema and plans to show first-run movies, perhaps starting in a week. [/quote]
If I were the one taking over this place, I’d want much more than a week to fix it up and rebrand it. It does not have a good reputation right now.

That’s correct. The two Framingham booths were seperated, and they did manual changeovers. They also used carbon arcs. I don’t remember exactly when they automated, probably early seventies. They still used two projectionists, as the Cinema II booth was seperated from Cinema I by going down a hall past the popcorn room, up some steps past the balcony Men’s room, then through a door and up some more steps. Not to mention that both projectionists, Walter King and either Herb Kenney or Vin Kane seemed about 70 years old.
I think Henry Cummings briefly ran Worcester Center and Waltham.

I have it on pretty good authority that this theatre is closing after those Thursday evening shows.

Whether it’s because AMC doesn’t want the property, or because they couldn’t reach a new lease agreement in time, I’m not sure. Also unclear is whether it might eventually reopen under different ownership. Stay tuned…

The shopping center owns the land, and someone buying the Cinema would only own the business and furnishings, with a lease that gives the shopping center a percentage of the profits. (kind of like buying a condo) If it’s for sale, you’d want to know what the terms of the lease are, with the shopping center, to determine whether it’s going to be a profitable plan. The shopping center may have other plans for the property and be looking to end the lease, and sell the location to another type of business, thus maybe the lease is coming up for renewal and the operator wants out. Since the concessions are owned by someone else, it’s one more detriment to the viability of the place as a theatre.
As for cost, the Assessor’s Office in the city of Cambridge could help start some research.